Be our Valentine Contest Winners

Conspiring mothers, a protective waiter, and a distracting
three year old were just three catalysts to finding love, submitted by
Pique
Newsmagazine
readers. And those loves won
some pretty cool gifts for sharing their stories as part of our three-week
online Be Our Valentine contest.

We asked readers to write in and tell us about the first day
they met their loves and received 200 entries in response. Pique publisher’s
assistant Aimee Larivee culled through submissions, reading many aloud to
production staff groans, guffaws and cheers. Because of the difficulty in
choosing from the quantity and variety of offerings, four honourable mentions
were also chosen.

And the winners are:

1. Rob Schertzer, 45, from Vancouver, who doesn’t mind
admitting their mothers brought he and wife Laura together. Schertzer recalled
how their mothers connected while leaving synagogue after Yom Kippur. His now
mother-in-law asked his mother if he was single. “My mother sadly said, ‘No,
he’s divorced.’ Without missing a beat, her mom said, ‘Oh good, ready to start
again!’” Rob and Laura have been married for 13 years and have two children.

The couple wins a one-night stay at the Edgewater Lodge, a $150
gift certificate for Rimrock restaurant, a $100 gift basket from Rocky Mountain
Chocolate Factory and two weeks unlimited doggy day care from Whistler’s Dog’s
Paw.

“I invited you in for tea. You accepted. I didn’t even have a
tea pot.”

For her cryptic but telling submission, Fawcett wins one night
at Adara Hotel, a $150 gift certificate for Ric’s Grill and a $100 certificate
from Keir Fine Jewellery.

3. An underage Sheila Banks badgered a waiter to serve her a
beer. He refused but asked her out for a date. “Thirty five years later we are
still married and I still don’t drink beer,” Banks said. The couple will enjoy
one night at the Crystal Lodge, a $100 gift certificate from the Cinnamon Bear
Bar & Grille and $290 infrared sauna package for two from Aqua del Sol.

4. In praise of puppy love: Whistler resident Adam Protter’s
story about meeting his future wife at the pediatrician’s office when he was
four. Throwing a screaming fit in anticipation of a blood test his future
wife’s aplomb calmed the situation.

“A little girl, three years old, with golden, curly hair walked
up and started singing to me. When I stopped crying she patted me on the cheek
and told me not to be afraid. All I could do was stare in stunned amazement. We
still have the beautiful dish Dr. Cole sent as a wedding gift 20 years later.”